Stars score seven, defeat Predators in season opener delayed by COVID-19

Anton Khudobin had a 34-save shutout, and the Dallas Stars scored five power-play goals to win their season opener 7-0 against the Nashville Predators at American Airlines Center on Friday.

The Stars, who unveiled their 2019-20 Western Conference champions banner prior to the game, had their first four games postponed because of an outbreak of COVID-19 that forced the NHL to shut the team down and close its facilities from Jan. 8-12.
"We have to understand that things went our way," Dallas coach Rick Bowness said. "We took five penalties and we weren't happy with that, but we're not going to nitpick here. Honestly, we just needed to get this first game. Win or lose, we had to get a game, we had to play. Fortunately, we got some breaks tonight and that's going to happen. Over the next 55 games you're going to have breaks going your way and you're going to have breaks going against you. When you have breaks going your way you have to take advantage of them, and we did tonight."

Dallas scored five goals in a span of 13:56 in the second period; three on the power play, one shorthanded and one at even strength. It was the first time since Oct. 11, 1980 that the Stars scored five goals in a period and at least seven goals total in a season opener.
They added a two more power-play goals in the third period to set a franchise record with five. They went 5-for-8 with the man-advantage.
Joe Pavelski had two goals and two assists, Alexander Radulov had two goals and one assist and John Klingberg had three assists. Denis Gurianov, Esa Lindell and Joel Kiviranta also scored.

Khudobin got his 100th NHL win.
"Going into a game like that, no preseason, a broken training camp, we did a lot of skating with the attempt to have our legs and be ready for tonight," Pavelski said. "We wanted to come into this game with no excuses and we wanted to be able to match their work ethic or even try to outwork it. It turned into a special teams game, but overall you feel good."
Predators goalie Juuse Saros allowed five goals on 20 shots in two periods. Pekka Rinne (six saves) played the third period.
The Predators (2-2-0) lost their second straight. They had their game against the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday postponed due to COVID-19.
They were 0-for-5 on the power play to drop to 1-for-16 this season.
"It hasn't been good enough," Predators defenseman Roman Josi said. "We've got to make a difference on the power play. That was the difference today."
Khudobin was the difference for Dallas in the first period with 10 saves, helping the Stars find some rhythm in their first game since losing Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sept. 28.
"We knew they were going to come hard," Khudobin said. "We didn't play any games, so they probably tried to take advantage of it. Yeah, we want to play better than that, but at the same time there's going to be games like this that you have to be able to survive, talk to the team, talk to each other in intermission, change your game and play better, which we did."
Pavelski gave the Stars a 1-0 lead at 2:45 of the second with a 5-on-3 power-play goal. Radulov scored on the same power play 1:26 later to make it 2-0.

Gurianov scored Dallas' third straight power-play goal for a 3-0 lead at 10:18.
Radulov scored again, this time at even strength at 14:40 by batting the puck out of the air to make it 4-0.
Lindell scored shorthanded on a solo rush for a 5-0 lead at 16:41.
Pavelski (4:35, 6-0) and Kiviranta (14:52, 7-0) each scored a power-play goal in the third period.
"Special teams was a big negative for our team," Predators forward Filip Forsberg said. "Five-on-five, I thought we were playing pretty good. We were creating chances, we were drawing penalties. … Obviously, 7-0 looks bad and special teams was bad, but 5-on-5 I thought we played pretty good."
Dallas captain Jamie Benn didn't play the third period because of a lower-body injury he sustained in the second period. Bowness didn't have an update.
The Stars and Predators play again at American Airlines Center on Sunday.
"I'm sure the second game against Nashville is going to be a different game," Radulov said. "We've got to be ready."
NOTES: The Stars' five goals in the second period was the highest-scoring period in an NHL season opener since the Chicago Blackhawks scored five in the first period of a 10-1 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Oct. 5, 2017. … Khudobin is 100-76-25 in 11 NHL seasons. … It was the third time in Stars history they scored five power-play goals and a shorthanded goal in a game. They also did it Nov. 11, 1981 against the Winnipeg Jets and Nov. 16, 1982 at the Los Angeles Kings. … Predators forward Mikael Granlund had four shots in 17:51 in his season debut.